To the future (fox)

This ink painting takes the kitsune — the fox of Japanese mythology, associated with the Inari deity and attributed with shapeshifting intelligence — as its subject. Nishigaki renders the animal in sumi on paper, likely employing the fluid, unbroken line of haboku or broken-ink techniques to suggest fur, movement, and the fox's liminal quality as a creature between worlds. The titular framing, "to the future," positions the kitsune not as a figure of superstition but as a forward-oriented symbol, resonant with contemporary anxieties about transformation and survival. In Shinto iconography the fox is both messenger and trickster; in Nishigaki's hands, the figure may carry additional weight as a stand-in for resilience or cultural continuity. The brushwork characteristic of his monochrome ink practice balances descriptive precision with gestural openness.